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This manual presents how Jamaica, the third largest island in the Caribbean, has been impacted by tropical storms and hurricanes which has resulted in massive losses to life and livelihood. The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) reports six severe hydro-meteorological events in Jamaica during the period 2002-2007 which resulted in massive flooding, damage to infrastructure and losses. Much of the affected communities and towns are coastal and the repeated flood events have also resulted in coastal erosion.

In light of the extreme events affecting life and livelihood in Jamaica, and the growing vulnerability of coastal communities to inundation and erosion, The Government of Jamaica (GOJ) has developed national strategies and policies to promote resilient developments. The concept of using mangroves as natural barriers to coastal erosion came into scientific knowledge and developed into policies following the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the 2005 storm surge from Hurricane Katrina that affected New Orleans.

As a part of work on disaster risk reduction and protection of coastlines the GOJ had received funding from the World Bank (WB) Program on Forests (PROFOR) to implement the Analytics and Advisory Services (ASA). This activity was supervised by the World Bank, and led at the local level by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA). This manual may be used by a wide range of stakeholders such as NEPA, Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), parish disaster coordinators, Forestry Department and any others who can benefit from information on data collection methods on aspects of mangrove monitoring and evaluation.